Verbing Weirds Language only if you're expecting it to work in a simple way. This is a special case of the more general truth that Language Weirds.

Only when a republic's life is in danger should a man uphold his government when it is in the wrong. There is no other time.

The church says Earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence in a shadow than the church.

If we can't find Heaven, there are always bluejays.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Pet pigeon

Just a thought about this KidsPost story, Pet pigeon leaves home and heads to school:

The pet bird named Foresta had disappeared last Tuesday from Tara’s home near Montana City, but it was back in her arms Wednesday after it showed up at her school five miles away.

The bird caused a ruckus when it arrived at Central-Linc Elementary, first sitting on teacher Rob Freistadt’s head. Staff members and a police officer tried for an hour to corral the bird, which Principal Vanessa Nasset said was “sky-bombing everyone.”

Nasset asked Tara for help after a parent remembered she had a pet pigeon. Tara recognized Foresta by her distinct coloration and the blue band around her leg.

“I was pretty happy,” Tara said.

Tara tried to catch Foresta, but classmate Owen Cleary finally succeeded by putting a blanket on the bird while it sat on his head.

Granted that being chased for an hour probably excited the bird, but something you have to catch by throwing a blanket over it is not really a "pet".

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About Me

I used to teach Russian and Ukrainian, and some basic English, to civil servants. Now I teach Russian at a local continued-learning institute. I dabble in Gaelic and Welsh. I'm am amateur photographer and I love birding (in a small way). I'm a Progressive, and a Freethinker, and I know Evolution is a fact - that's FCD, Friend of Charles Darwin (look down the sidebar). I read a lot, and follow women's college basketball. Also I love astronomy, though I'm a rank amateur at it. Most of all, I like living in the reality-based community...

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You cannot leave. You cannot drop the armor now. Why? Because you are needed, more than ever. You are mandatory to keep the energy flowing, the karmic vibrator buzzing, to keep the progressive and lucid half of the nation breathing and healthy and awake and ever reaching out to the half that's wallowing in fear and violence and homophobia and sexual dread, hoping to find harmony instead of cacophony, common ground instead of civil war, some sort of a shared love of a country so messy and internationally disrespected and openly confused its own president can't even speak the language.

After all, you don't hand over all your children the first time the flying monkeys bang on your door...

It's far from over. The tunnel is just a little darker -- and longer -- than we imagined.
Mark Morford